Re:An ex-YouTube whistleblower on their recommendation engine
by lubujackson on Sunday February 10, 2019 @01:47PM
(#19129290)
I agree. A good comparison is how Coca-Cola used to have actual cocaine in it to keep people coming back for more. I think in the future we will look back on these unregulated times of loot boxes and Skinner boxes with the same sort of incredulity.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:An ex-YouTube whistleblower on their recommendation engine
by Mtinie on Sunday February 10, 2019 @02:10PM
(#19129417)
Not exactly the same, though I get where you were going with the example.
history/
“Pemberton’s French Wine Coca Nerve Tonic,” the precursor to Coca-Cola was a patent medicine and was proported to cure morphine addiction (of which Pemberton suffered from after the U.S. Civil War).
The addictive affects of the coca leaf weren’t widely accepted at the time due to the limited concentration of active cocaine in the “wines” it was typically included with. That it had addictive qualities was a side-effect, not a conscious decision to aid with repeat business.
/history
Re:An ex-YouTube whistleblower on their recommendation engine
by b_tterc_p on Sunday February 10, 2019 @02:24PM
(#19129485)
Cocaine was used in many medicines at the time.
Coke was pretty good about getting it out of their product when people realized it had bad effects- before any serious public discontent over cocaine was popular